B&b Is Coming To Your Street
Sydney Morning Herald
Sunday September 19, 1993
MONTE CARLO, Sunday: Sydney will offer free accommodation for close relatives of competing athletes if it wins the battle for the 2000 Olympics.
If Sydney succeeds, up to 20,000 people will be billeted with Sydney families under a plan co-ordinated by Rotary.
But the plan appears to have taken some Rotarians in Sydney by surprise. The organisation's metropolitan leaders were at first confused about the scheme, but later said they would do anything to help Sydney's bid.
The International Olympic Committee, which meets on Thursday to decide the winning city, has set a 10,000 limit on the number of athletes allowed to compete at the 2000 Games.
The Rotary plan, called Homestay, provides for each athlete to bring up to two relatives to Sydney for the 16 days of the Games.
While the relatives will have to pay their own travel costs, the scheme will provide bed and breakfast with a selected family.
The NSW Premier said Sydney's multicultural society made such an offer possible. "As a city of over 140 ethnic communities, the language, food and customs of our visitors should pose no problems for family members who feel more comfortable with people from their own countries.
"At the same time, I have no doubt Homestay hosts will be showing their guests how harmoniously this city ... has been forged into a city which remains distinctly and proudly Australian."
The idea was forged early in Sydney's campaign following meetings between bid officials and Sydney Rotary.
The Rev Gordon Moyes, Sydney president of Rotary, said that while the club had begun the plan, churches and other service organisations would assist.
Mr John Coates, president of the Australian Olympic Committee, said that of the 290 Australian athletes who competed at Barcelona, nearly half had at least one family member visiting the city for the Games but others could not afford to make the trip.
James Woodford in Sydney writes that Mr Alan Grady, the Rotary district governor of Area 9690, which includes Homebush, was taken aback by the Homestay announcement.
"Nobody has spoken to us," he said. "That's the problem and I don't know where we go from here to be honest."
Of the three Sydney district governors, only one had known about Homestay, he said.
Mr Moyes said later it was correct that nobody had been told. The plan had been four months in the making and secrecy had been the "express wish" of Mr Fahey and the bid committee.
"What each of the districts has said to us is 'we want to help in whatever way we can'.
"The decision was then up to us and it was quite a normal decision.
"We have been sitting on this for quite some time so other cities couldn't copy what Sydney was doing," Mr Moyes said.
After discussing the situation with Mr Moyes, Mr Grady said: "I can understand why they might want to keep this a secret."
© 1993 Sydney Morning Herald
